She slept late the next morning. Saturday. Charlie left early to go fishing and Edward merely waited for her to awaken. She did.

Opening her eyes, she moaned a little and smiled at the sight of her beloved. "Good morning." He said with a crooked smile.

"Good morning. You're back earlier than expected." Her pupils dilated slightly and she scratched her nose as she sat up in her bed.

"Bella." He said disapprovingly.

"What?" She frowned slightly.

"I know you remember me coming back last night." She sighed.

"Well, I sort of hoped you had forgotten. Or that it had been a dream."

"Another nightmare you mean." He looked away.

They sat in silence for a moment. Both staring at the bed spread. He looked up first, only to notice a tear streaking down her cheek. "Bella-" he said at a loss for what could possibly have brought on such sudden pain.

"Don't be mad." She looked up, "I- I can't. I just can't-" She crawled out of bed and headed for the bathroom, wiping away the tears in her eyes, and fighting back new ones.

He waited for her, allowing her a moment of human time, allowing her to gather her thoughts. If only he knew what she was thinking . . .

She returned sheepishly to her room, busying about with nothing in particular, and trying to avoid looking at the love of her life who was merely watching, waiting, while sitting on her bed.

It finally became too much, "Bella," but she didn't stop, "Bella please?"

She paused in the middle of putting a book back in its place on the shelf. "Okay. Okay, Edward, I remember last night, but-- can't we just forget it? Can't we just pretend I'm . . . I really am fine. I'll be okay." She still didn't look at him.

"I know." He said simply.

She turned to face him. "Really? You're just going to let it go?"

"No. I said 'I know,' and I do know, I know that you'll be okay. That you are fine. However, I don't want to forget, I don't want to pretend that I didn't come in here last night and find you in pain. Bella, can't you understand that--" he paused, wondering how to phrase this so that it wouldn't hurt her, but with Bella, it seemed like everything hurt her somehow, so maybe the best bet was the truth. "Can't you understand that I failed you, and I want to make up for it? I hurt you and I didn't come back to fix it. Now I find you hurting and I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try, just try to relieve you of some of that pain. Especially when I have a hand in causing it."

She started to argue, but then looked at his eyes. Maybe, just maybe, playing along wouldn't be so bad. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes . . . and nodded.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"I said okay." They stayed there for a minute, just waiting. Then Edward sighed, he smiled at her and shook his head slightly.

"Come here." He said, motioning for her to sit with him. She moved to sit next to him on the bed, and he pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head. She melted into his embrace. "I can't stand not touching you, not feeling you safely with me. I feel helpless when you are out of reach, like there is no way I can possibly keep you safe unless I can hold onto you, hold you away from harm . . . " He sighed again. She just stayed quiet. "Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to force your hand. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm alright, I just-- what do you want to know?" She frowned slightly, leaning further into him for that promised protection, hoping that maybe he could protect her from these hurtful memories too.

He thought for a second. Thinking he should ease her into this unknown territory. But where to begin? "Tell me no if it's too much, but I'd like to know what you dreamt last night."

Bella sighed. He wanted to know what she had dreamt. It had been the same as usual, nothing particularly interesting. Just a bunch of images that her subconscious was tying together to make the picture of her suffering. She sighed again.

"Is it too much?" He asked worried.

It would be better to just tell him, rather than forcing his imagination to go wild. But maybe it would be better to play it down a lot, and maybe she could fish some information out of him. "No, it wasn't that bad. How did you even know I was having a nightmare?" Please don't say I was screaming.

"You were talking. And crying." She looked relieved. "You weren't screaming this time." She looked up slightly startled. Had he guessed her thoughts?

"How did you . . ." if she hadn't screamed last night the only way he could know she had screamed before was if he'd seen Charlie's thoughts. "Do Charlie and Jake think about it?" She asked, trying not to look embarrased.

"Yes." He answered.

"What do you know?"

"Only what I've seen in their heads." He didn't want to have to tell her. To show her a glimpse of the pain he could see. It might hurt her more to know.

She looked up at his eyes, pleading lied in there but her voice was clear as she asked of him, "What do you know?"

He sighed heavily, this wasn't working quite as he had hoped. "Bella." He shook his head slightly. "You're turning this around, love." She blushed and he smiled at her coniving mind. "Okay. We need to work this out a little better. I suppose it's unfair of me to ask these things of you without completely returning the favor. I'm just so used to knowing everyone else's secrets and being able to keep my own. Some of my secrets aren't necessarily mine to tell either." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He shifted so that they were completely facing each other and he looked deep into her eyes, causing her breathing to hitch and her heart to skip a beat. "Charlie remembers the screaming. Jake remembers your eyes. And everyone remembers the way you looked like a zombie and walked around as though you had to- to hold yourself together." He paused, he hesitated slightly, he tried to control the anguish he felt, to not let it show in his face . . . "Did you have to- to physically, hold yourself together?" He asked carefully.

Bella didn't want him to know. She didn't want to hurt him with the truth. "Edward it wasn't-" But he saw her complacency coming a mile away.

He looked deeper into her eyes, "I love you."

She stopped, she looked confused.

"Bella, I love you."

"I- I love you too."

He smiled at her, her favorite crooked smile. She smiled back, letting out a little breath she hadn't known she was holding. She breathed deeper, and suddenly the words were easy. She knew exactly what to say, and she didn't have to lie, or withhold the truth, or avoid anything. "It hurt. I felt like I was falling apart, and I had to keep myself together." She looked down, and then looked back up at Edward, smiling.

"I dreamt we were in the woods. You were telling me things that didn't make sense. I was confused. I was chasing you and you were always just out of reach. I dreamt about you saying goodbye to me."

A/N: Sorry it's so short, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm working on continuing. More soon! Thanks for all the support, I hope you enjoy this little bit.